Deanne Loonin

Deanne Loonin worked as an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and was the founding Director of NCLC’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. Deanne is co-author of NCLC’s publications Student Loan Law and Guide to Surviving Debt as well as numerous reports on the student loan industry and borrower issues. Prior to joining NCLC in 1997, Deanne worked as a legal aid attorney in Los Angeles. She is a member of the California and Massachusetts bars.

Since we wrote our report on the student loan “debt relief” industry in 2013, we have unfortunately seen this industry grow and engage in even more abusive practices. We summarized our concerns in this presentation that Deanne Loonin gave by skype to the Association for Student Loan R

Last month, the Department of Education announced new contract terms for its largest student loan servicers. The Department made some important changes, but much more needs to be done. As Ben Miller of New America summarized, the changes address only the finances, not the structure o

We wrote in our March 2014 report about the critical importance of giving students more than one chance to succeed in college. The reality is that most students do not follow a straight line from high school to a four-year college to graduation. Many stumble along the way. Yet fed

Senator Harkin released draft proposals for Higher Education Act reauthorization in June. As part of this process, Senator Harkin created an email address to receive feedback by August 29. This was intended to facilitate the submisssion of feedback and suggestions from “inter

We wrote an open letter last year to private student lenders urging them to stop making excuses and start helping borrowers. Unfortunately, not much has changed. There have been improvements for newer borrowers. Most new private loan products are better, but let’s not get carr

We issued a policy brief in June on student loan servicing. We urged the Department of Education not to renew the current servicing contracts. We said that borrowers and taxpayers deserve better than five more years of the same old system. We are sorry to report that the Department

We wrote earlier about a number of important changes to the federal student loan program. It took a long time, but it’s now almost July 1, the date when the new rules become effective. There are a number of important changes, including very significant improvements to the loan r

President Obama announced new executive actions last week to address rising student loan debt burdens. The proposed changes to income-based repayment received the most attention. The current Pay As You Earn plan has the most favorable terms for borrowers, but is only available to ne

We wrote earlier about potential problems with the Department of Education’s new “servicer choice” consolidation application system. At that point, most, but not all borrowers were required to use the new system in order to consolidate with the Direct Loan program.

Comments on the Department of Education’s proposed “gainful employment” regulation are due next Tuesday May 27. This is the Department’s second attempt to define what it means for career education programs at public, nonprofit and for-profit colleges to prepare students

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Please understand that we do not provide legal advice about individual cases. This web site includes links to other resources for those who seek individualized legal advice or other help not offered here. This site is for people who already have student loans and want to know more about their options and rights.